Project summary

The proposed mass balance study is designed to allow us to understand the full cycle of the use of energy, water and recyclables within the biosphere reserve. This understanding will show the relationship between all three and allow us to develop new ways of sustainably managing our future. By educating people we will be able to help change behaviour. To our knowledge, no other community has done this before.

Mass Balance Research Proposal

Mass balance—Energy, water & recyclables

The generation of energy, through our consumption of fossil fuels, produces the most serious source of greenhouse gases. As a result, the biosphere reserve foundation would like to change the behaviour of people to encourage them to use sources of energy that are sustainable and that serve to mitigate the greenhouse effect. We therefore propose doing three mass balance exercises: energy, water and recyclables.

An "energy balance" of all energy usage in the biosphere reserve would be used to identify aspects of energy usage that could be changed to address the greenhouse problem. For example, what proportion of household energy consumption comes from coal-fired power stations and from renewable sources? What then can the foundation do to encourage, for example, more households to move to locally generated solar power? What working examples can we find that demonstrate the benefits of doing so? There are numerous ways in which energy can be conserved in our daily activities. The foundation wishes to work with groups active in energy conservation. Moreover, greenhouse gases can be sequestered (taken out the atmosphere) by tree planting. What can the foundation do to encourage tree planting? Can we play a part in carbon-credit trading if and when it is sanctioned in Australia?

Similarly, a "water balance" would enable us to identify how much water comes into the biosphere reserve, what it is used for, and how much is wasted.

A "recyclables" study would enable the wide range of users of materials within the biosphere reserve to much better understand the waste stream in all its forms and encourage better re-use across the region.

By studying all three aspects simultaneously, the foundation could identify much more effectively the cross linkages between these three very important aspects of everyday life and enable more harmonious usage of the fundamental resources available to all those who live and work in the region.

CSIRO Sustainable Communities have already prepared a detailed brief for the conduct of a mass balance study. This brief is currently being reviewed widely by members of the biosphere community. It is proposed that following the completion of these reviews and the incorporation of any subsequent comments into the brief, that CSIRO be commissioned to undertake a mass balance study. They will do so working in close collaboration with our local government areas, relevant state government departments, other local authorities, and other interested parties. The completion of such a study is likely to prove to be the first of its kind within any biosphere reserve anywhere in the world. This assumption will of course be checked through UNESCO in due course and the results of the study will be reported to UNESCO.